June 27 (Bloomberg) -- L’Occitane International SA, the
first French company to list in Hong Kong, said full-year
profit grew 22 percent as it opened new stores and sales growth
at outlets open more than a year accelerated.

Net income for the 12 months ended March 31 rose to 99.5
million euros, or 0.068 euros a share, from 81.6 million euros
($116 million), or 0.064 euros, in the previous year, the maker
of skin-care products, soap and perfume said in a stock-exchange
filing today. Sales grew 26 percent to 772 million euros.

L’Occitane, which makes all its products in France, is
opening stores to tap rising demand for cosmetics in emerging
markets such as China, while continuing to expand in developed
countries. It had the fastest store expansion in mainland China,
with 24 additional locations, while sales in Japan its biggest
market, increased 29 percent to 190 million euros.

“Risks exist but the growth story will win the day for
now,” Erwan Rambourg, a Hong Kong-based analyst at HSBC
Holdings Plc, who raised the company’s rating to “overweight”
a week ago, said before the earnings announcement. “Although
Japan may surprise by its resilience, we expect Asian countries
to impress.”

L’Occitane’s total number of retail locations expanded to
1,828 from 1,541 in the previous year. The company’s own retail
outlets grew 17 percent to 895. Same-store sales growth, which
strips out the effect of outlets open less than a year,
accelerated to 5.3 percent, compared with 1 percent in the
previous period, according to L’Occitane’s statement.

Japan Sales Growth

L’Occitane slid 0.9 percent to HK$18.62 at the 4 p.m.
close of trading in Hong Kong today, before the results were
announced. The stock has lost 13 percent this year, compared
with a 4.3 percent drop for the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

The company’s sales in Japan were affected in the first
two weeks after the March 11 earthquake, the strongest on
record to hit the country, Chief Financial Officer Thomas
Levilion said at a briefing in Hong Kong today. L’Occitane,
which is incorporated in Luxembourg, had 11 additional stores
in Japan, where it made 24.6 percent of revenue for the period.

“The earthquake and tsunami are slowing down our growth in
Japan in the short term but we remain confident for the long-term potential,” the company said in its statement.

Sales in mainland China, its ninth-largest market, grew 60
percent to 32.8 million euros or 4.2 percent of the total,
according to the filing. Mainland China doesn’t include Hong
Kong, Macau or Taiwan. Sales in Hong Kong, where many mainland
Chinese prefer to shop, expanded 43 percent to 71.2 million
euros, making it the fourth-largest market for L’Occitane.

In local currency terms, sales in mainland China grew
about 46 percent from a year earlier, Levilion said.

The company plans to open 30 stores in China this fiscal
year, said André Hoffmann, managing director for the Asia-Pacific region.